88 
WILD WINGS 
great decrease from the numbers that were once here. These 
two species alone breed on the island. Its only other fre¬ 
quenters are about two dozen great Man-o’-War Birds, which 
loaf about, sunning themselves, upon a certain tract of 
bushes, the wharf, or the beacon, when they are not floating 
serenely in the air (')r pursuing and robbing the terns as they 
come in with the food secured in their trips out to sea each 
morning and afternoon. 
Though the climate is warm throughout the year, it is not 
before early May that the feathered hosts arrive from the 
south at this sandy rendezvous. In the van come the Nod¬ 
dies, only a few at hrst, but the rest within a few days. A 
week later the Sootv Terns pour in, and it is said that within 
a week of their arrival both kinds begin to lay. At the time 
of our coming, nearly all the birds had eggs and were devot¬ 
ing themselves to their family cares. 
To reach the l)uildings from the little landing-pier, we had 
to pass through a tract of bushes, and here it was that I saw 
the first nests of the Noddies. Upon the tops or in the forks 
of the bushes each pair had built a rather rude, yet fairly 
substantial platform of sticks, only slightly hollowed, and 
upon each sat a dark gray bird. There was something about 
the graceful little creatures that instantly took me by storm, 
— a case of love at first sight. The Noddy is wonderfully like 
a dove, in size, in form, in the softness of its plumage, the 
expression in its large, dark eyes, and its gentle, confid¬ 
ing wavs. There is no wild affright and fluttering as the 
stranger approaches. Just a shadow of natural modesty is 
evident, but the birds sit quietly, hoiking and trusting, and do 
not flv until the intruder is almost within arms’ reach. Then 
they flit easily away, waiting upon a neighboring bush until 
the interloper has withdrawn, when they return directly to 
their charges. 
